Avon High School (Connecticut)

Avon High School
Address
510 West Avon Road Avon, Connecticut 06001 United States
Coordinates	41°47′00″N 72°51′44″W / 41.7833°N 72.8623°W / 41.7833; -72.8623Coordinates: 41°47′00″N 72°51′44″W / 41.7833°N 72.8623°W / 41.7833; -72.8623
Information
Motto	Scientia Veritas (In knowledge there is truth).
Founded	1958
School district	Avon Public Schools
Principal	Arthur Arpin (interim)[1]
Faculty	67
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	about 1100
Student to teacher ratio	15:1
School color(s)	Blue and White
Athletics conference	Central Connecticut Conference
Mascot	Falcon
Accreditation	NEASC
Average SAT scores	avg. 1717 (2011)
Website	www.avon.k12.ct.us/avon-high-school

Avon High School is a public high school in Avon, Connecticut, United States, serving grades 9–12. The student population is about 1100. The school has undergone extensive renovations over the last 20 years. The school started its latest renovation project in 2006, which was completed in the fall of 2008. The latest renovation included the addition of classrooms, a second gymnasium, a new kitchen and cafeteria, orchestra room, several media centers, and interior cosmetic changes. An indoor track and a softball field were proposed, but were canceled due to a lack of funding. The school was also renovated during 1996 and 1997. The interim principal for the 2016-2017 school year is Timothy Breslin.^[1] On August 11, 2016, Newsweek ranked Avon High School as the 116th best public high school in the United States.^[2]

Academics

Academic departments include Math, Social Studies, English, Science, World Languages, Health, Visual Arts, Music, and Physical Education. There are 67 subject area teachers.^[3]

In order to graduate, students of the class of 2018 (the class of 2019 faces updated graduation requirements) and earlier must earn a minimum of 22.5 credits according to the following distribution:^[4]

Arts

Arts offerings include music, visual arts, and theater arts.

The music offerings at Avon High School have expanded in recent years. Ensembles currently include:^[5]

Bands

• 9th grade Concert Band
• Symphonic Band
• Wind Ensemble (audition-only)

Choirs

• Women's Choir
• Men's Choir
• Chamber Choir
• Camerata Singers

Orchestras

• Concert Orchestra
• Symphony Orchestra
• Chamber Orchestra (audition-only)

Other musical opportunities include the jazz band, American School Band Directors Association festivals, American Choral Directors Association festivals, Connecticut Music Educators Association Northern Regional and All-State Festivals, and the New England Music Festival Association's festival (NEMFA).

Activities

The Avon High website notes that, "Avon High offers a great variety of extracurricular activities for students to get involved. A wide array of sports teams is well complemented by an eclectic mix of school clubs and groups."^[6] Popular extracurricular activities include Student Government, the Avon Volunteers On Newness (A.V.O.N.) Club, Diversity Club, FIRST Robotics Team, Katie's Club, Model United Nations, National Honor Society, Gay-Straight Alliance, debate club, cooking club, Peer Support Club, and Yearbook. The Model U.N. club has been successful in local and state level competitions, and the Robotics Team, the ÜberBots, regularly competes in local, New England, and International FIRST Competitions.^[7]

Traditions

Avon has many unofficial student traditions that have lasted over the years. Some of the most commonly observed traditions include seniors decorating their cars on the first day of school. Senior girls also wear dresses and tiaras on the first day of classes. For the homecoming pep rally, students wear creative outfits reflecting AHS colors. Only seniors are permitted to dress up for Halloween, the celebration of which surrounds the senior parade through the hallways of the school for faculty and underclassmen. During senior year, students play a game called "Assassin"; everyone has a partner and is given a target to spray with a water gun. The game has many rounds, and the winner receives a cash price. For graduation, girls wear white and boys wear blue. Most seniors decorate their caps for the graduation ceremony. The school mascot is the Falcon and the colors are blue and white. The yearbook is called the NOVA, which is Avon spelled backward.

Sports

Avon High School has an extensive athletics program that frequently earns recognition in the North Central Connecticut Conference and the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference. Several athletes have earned All-American status. Offerings include cheerleading (co-ed), cross country (boys and girls), field hockey, football, soccer (boys and girls), volleyball, crew (boys and girls), basketball (boys and girls), ice hockey (joint program with Farmington and Windsor), swimming and diving (boys and girls), wrestling (co-ed), baseball, golf (boys and girls), lacrosse (boys and girls), softball, tennis (boys and girls), and track (boys and girls).^[8]

Facilities for field hockey, football, cheerleading, volleyball, basketball, wrestling, track, and girls lacrosse are located at the high school. Boys lacrosse and girls tennis play at the middle school. Soccer, softball, and cross country have home bases at the Fisher Meadow recreational facility. Baseball plays at the Buckingham recreational facility. The crew team's home base is at the Batterson Park recreational facility in Farmington, CT.

Strong sports rivals include Canton High School, Farmington High School, Simsbury High School, and Suffield High School.

The crew team, despite from being a new addition to the school (founded in 2007), has won multiple Connecticut Public Schools Rowing Association Championship races, as well as many local races and titles. They often participate in the Head of the Charles Regatta.

Avon High School's Club Sport, Ultimate Frisbee, has had success, with the Avon Falcons willing the Division II State Championship (2015) for Ultimate Frisbee after only three years of being present at AHS.

Notable alumni

• Will Friedle, actor
• Jessica Lundy, actress
• David Yoo, author
• Kia McNeill, professional soccer player^[10]

References

External links

• Official website